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Show ^*wr A ! 4 6 Tuesday, October 28,2008 Tuesday SPORTS www.dailyutahchroniclexom Saturday Friday Thursday Football Golf Volleyball Soccer Utah@ Herb Wimberly Intercollegiate ^New Mexico @ Utah Utah@ Air Force AIIDay,LasCruces,NM. 7p.m. Crimson Court 5 p.m. Colorado Springs, Colo. Swimming Utah @ New Mexico Volleyball Cross Country Utah@ MWC Championships Denver @ Utah 7:30 p.m. Albuquerque, NM O OREGOn S) Utes All Day, San Diego, Calif. 1 P-m. Ute Natatorium Oregon 3 1 VOLLEYBALL Oregon 'BJ'looks to be No. 1 finishes U streak f Christopher Kamrani \ ASST. SPORTS EDITOR \ • • ' . . - . Top io material It certainly seems longer than four years ago when the Utah was ranked this high, but entering its ioth week of the 2008 college j football season, Utah is the No. 10 team in the nation. At 8-0, the Utes are No. 9 in the US A Today Coaches Poll and have made a significant jump since the beginning of the season. "It's a positive for our players ( and program to be recognized," ; said head coach Kyle WhittingL ham. "But it's still early. We have f four games to go. Are we where • we want to be? Sure. But we have ; some tough games on the horizon." Aside from the grueling schedule the Utes face from here on out, they are getting a fair share of national attention. After BYU's ship sank to the bottom of the sea, the national media has pinned the Utes as the favorite to potentially crash the Bowl Championship Series this year as they cUd under Whittingham and former head coach UrbaaMejaer in 2004. Despite the high ranking, the : \ Playeiv the Game 15 .448 2 3 Kills PCT Blocks^ Digs MB* LoriBalrd James Boehly STAFF WRITER The streak is over. After eight straight wins, the Utes fell to No. 7 Oregon in the team's first loss in more than a month. The Utes' last loss came against Wyoming on Sept. 20. Although the Utes fought hard early on, they couldn't maintain their success down the stretch as the Ducks won 3-1 (25-17, 24-26, 25-15, 25-22). "We were up and down tonight," said head coach Beth Launiere. "We played a solid match against a Top 10 team." This is the first time the teams have faced each other since 1996 when the Utes won 3-0 at the Utah Classic. This loss ties the overall record between the schools at 4-4. Although the Ute offense started off well, it wasn't enough to beat Oregon in the long run. In the four sets, the Utes only had a .252 hit• ting average and hit below .200 in two of those games. The best player for the Utes I was Lori Baird. She led the Utes in both her hitting percentage and number of kills with .448 and 15, respectively. The other top performer for the Utes was Karolina Bartkowiak. She was the only other player for the Utes to have a hitting average above .250. Bartkowiak also recorded eight kills on the night. "We can take a lot of positive things from this match, but we are still not satisfied," Launiere said. "It'll serve as good motivation for us when we get back in the gym." Oregon's offense was running on all cylinders. The Ducks dropped only one game and had a .466 hitting average in their three victories. While the Utes managed to split with Oregon after two games, they didn't have an answer for Oregon's Neticia Enesi, who had a .714 hitting average and led the team in kills with 18. After squaring the match at one game apiece with a 26-24 w m m the second set, the Utes took the lead just once, early in the fourth and deciding set. Utah, who had been outblocking teams in convincing fashion during the course of the winning streak had just six to Oregon's 19 blocks. With the non-conference schedule over, the Utes have seven games remaining to improve their All-time wins as the starting quarterback a Brian Johnson (21-7) (2005 - present) • Alex Smith ( 2 M ) (2003-2004) coaching staff and leaders such as defensive co-captain Brice McCain continue to preach that the "Utes still have a long way to go. "I was happy, but we ain't accomplished nothing yet," McCain said about the team's ranking. "We're blessed to be at the top of the mix with all the other great teams out there in college football." . : LUCAS Brian Johnson will have the opportunity to pass Alex Smith as Utah's starting quarterback with the most wins when the Utes face New Mexico. Mr. Johnson, meet Mr. Smith In his topsy-turvy five-year career as a Utah quarterback, senior Brian Johnson has tied former Heisman Trophy finalist and No. 1 draft pick Alex Smith with 21 wins as a starting quarterback. Johnson's career as a starter is 21-7 compared to that of Smith's 21-1 during his two years of tutelage under the offensive-minded Meyer. Johnson is aware he has great potential to supplant Smith as the winningest starting quarterback in the history of Utah football. "I think it's an unbelievable accomplishment," Johnson said, referring to tying the record. "Just to tie Alex and what he did for this program and the way he-played, it's a huge accomplishment. And hopefully, J can beat it." -' Johnson was on the 2004 team as a backup to Smith as a 17-yearold freshman. After Smith graduated to the NFL, Johnson's calling card came in 2005 when he led an electric spread-option offense and was No. 4 in the nation in total offense. . He blew out his knee in the season's second-to-last game, against New Mexico—the same squad I See VOLLEYBALL Page 7 Week#9: Oct.27-Nov.2 son is relishing this "extra" year r, that has turned out to be undefeated so far. "The key is not for us to get ahead of ourselves and fall in lovef; with ourselves," Johnson said, f ?; his Utes take on this week. On account of his torn ACL, Johnson missed the entire 2006 season. In 2007, it was the same old song and dance for Johnson as he went down with a shoulder separation in the season opener against Oregon State. Despite a dismal start, Johnson's emergence from injury led the Utes to a 9-4 record. Johnson and the staff decided to take his eligible redshirt season with the knee injury. Luckily enough for Johnson and the entire team, "BJ" is here for another year. "At the end of the day, when we sat down and made the decision to redshirt, I think this is what you redshirted for," Johnson said. "If you looked at it back then, it was gonna be Brent CasteePs senior year, Bradon Godfrey's senior year, Freddie Brown's senior year and Darrell Mack. We had a lot of guys coming back offensively. Back when we made the decision, it looked good on paper, and it set up nicely offensively." Five years down the road and after experiencing the highest of highs and lowest of lows, John- It's a long road to get back on track 've often questioned the value of my selfimportant documentation of getting myself in shape for a marathon. To my surprise, the feedback has been extremely positive and encouraging, no matter how bleak the situation got—and trust me, things got pretty bleak for a while. I've been going through a pretty bumpy emotional situation involving a former loved one, some youngins and eternal promises. To numb the pain, I turned to outlets that weren't previously part of my life. Things such as alcohol pushed my bedtime past 2 a.m. and made the next day a fuzzy haze. I even went so far as to write a column about how truly horrible I'd let my life become in about a month and a half. My point was to be as brutally honest as possible. Some friends and editors advised I abstain from divulging that much information and write a column when things had gotten better. Well, things have gotten a lot better. It took me about a month, including a failed Fall Break trip—which left me with nothing but time on my hands—to get my life at a place where I could focus on improving my health, my diet and my mental well-being. Being open with my goal and my struggle has given me the opportunity to get some muchneeded advice from a variety of friends. For the second consecutive week, I've been going strong on a training plan—not only from a physical aspect, but also a dieting and mental aspect as well. Now, more than ever, I realize how all of these things tie together. Here are a few of the iSLZY/ntDallyUiehOronklt Hospital bill? '/ After the bye week, the Utes are prepared and ready to welcome back some players who had injuries—most notably senior defensive tackle Kenape Eliapo who broke his foot in the season opener at Michigan is "close" to coming back this week against the Lobos. "Kenape Eliapo has been doing • very well and been practicing," Whittingham said. "We will know by Wednesday if he will be available or not. It will be a big plus if he is back—that is the area we've j been the thinnest in this season ! with those early hits. That will be , 1 abigplus." '-:•'•••••••'.• .•". M Special teams standouts De- **; shawn Richard and Kepa Gaison ! are on their way back to being 100 percent as well, linebacker Stevenson Sylvester said. c.kamrani@ WEEK O MOUNTAIN <S> POWER RANKINGS Utah (8-0,4-0 M W Q TONY With four of the <onfwwcrt lop teims on the ro*l this week. Utah l»ces the PIZZA too* tostay In the BCS lop 10, despite faring i team they're toil 2 of the tai 3 to. Texas Christian (8-1,5-0 M W Q 2 hints and tricks I've used as I approach the halfway point to the critical one-month training hump. •Forget about failure This advice came from my friend and former boss at The Daily Utah Chronicle, Matt Piper. My first month is going to be filled with days when I can't always make it to the gym. People who succeed in training are ones who don't get discouraged by the occasional slipup, but instead focus on how to do it right tomorrow. •Find a training plan that adds variety When I first drafted a training schedule, I thought I simply needed to progress in distance increments from week to week until I hit 26 miles. My best friend from the military sent me a plan he found in a magazine from Southern California. It didn't concentrate so much on mileage as productive time. Now I'm running specific times every day. Some days I run a fartlek (a run that increases in pace for bursts of, say, 10 to 15 seconds). Some days I jog for 45 minutes. Other times I run at my goal marathon pace for 30 minutes and jog the rest. The variety keeps my training fresh and my mind engaged. Nwi: Nov.i g u w y | ICUjno^ttyofflh^tofungtighlfotMarfyatulfWDffanSuUtlnglhe Cowboys like emy other lop MWC team h« done.TCU,howewt allowed the* BYU(7-1,3-1MWQ hopes to remain a!h*, but ihe Cougar defense hasnl looW (food In wets. titXt: Nov. 1 g Army | Air Force (6-2,4-1 M W Q 4 The fafcons *jot past yd another lough conference opponent in New Madco and Is mwacnufly receding vwesui the AP M s . AtrtacestillhnalegitifTUte chance of befng raided with BTU and TCU sliB on up al the end of the season. . New Mexico (4-5, 2-3 MWC) 46 pts. HCT: Nov.i w ( ^ h ~ | they (ate the conference's lone unbeaten team at home. Rodney Ferguson cotitlnutt to t« effeOte on the ground, but 97 passing yards won't cut It UNLV(3-5,(MMWC) tr^areathteaUobeatjnjt^lnrJieHVrXwiiJiD^ifoftenie.Unfomawery the UHIV defense has been as resist oil as» wtf paper tows), and TCU Is up txxL Colorado State (4-4,2-2 MWC) ability [o shock in somewhat wbbfy Cougars team it theyfeeon all cylinders. Net!: Not I W.SOSU Wyoming (2-6,0-5 MWC) piayi r>g better than the Cowbop « o I Ute aid are hungry for a win inemstfres. San D i e g o State (1-6,0-3 MWC) Hext: Nov. 1»Wyoming | SD5U actually looked geared up to waiforjust Lhe second rime Ihhyear, Indudlffl] the fust time In MWC pity. fleaJ&tcally, Wyon&ig could be the Ian dunce as B'rtJ, Utah and UKLV renuln for (he shockingly worst MWC team so br, Voting by eight member! of the spewD tuff See PIZZA Page 7 Last week's winner: JoAnne Kanegae (13-3) To pick up your prize come to Union Room 318 o NCAA STATl Utah New Mexico Texas Texas Tech Florida Georgia Boise St. NMSt. Florida St. . G.Tech N. Western Minnesota Wisconsin Michigan St. Oregon Vikings Dolphins Falcons Cal NFL Ravens NAME Browns Packers Contact Titans Cardinals Rams Texans Broncos Raiders Tie Breaker: Pick the final score of Utah Cowboys Giants Patriots Colts @ New Mexico Circle all 16 of your selections and submit sheets to Union Room 318 by 3 p.m. Friday. Winners announced every Tuesday, but just because you win Pigskin Picks doesn't mean Chad Zavala will shave that big red beard. Featured Staff Pick: Tony Pizza • Best of Week 8: (13-3) JoAnne Kanegae (12-4) Erik Daentz, Grafton Hull, Wanda Brown, Jannah Mather, Becky Lubbers, Scott Boyle, Monica Rojas, Tony Pizza |